This invention relates to a method of cleaning the interior of a centrifuge. Preferably, this method is applied to centrifuges of the type having a bowl with a tapered end portion formed about a rotational axis and further provided with an axial screw conveyer. The screw conveyor is disposed coaxially within the bowl and adapted to be rotated at some selected, small differential in speed, relative to the rotational speed of the bowl. Such centrifuges are sometimes called decanter centrifuges. Although the invention is not so limited, the invention is especially applicable to a decanter centrifuge having its rotational axis disposed horizontally.
Centrifuges of the general type to which this cleaning method may be applied are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,679,974 and 2,703,676 of F. P. Gooch, also U.S. Pat. No. 3,148,145 of K. G. Reed, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,172,851 of C. M. Ambler, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. The cited patents are assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
Centrifuges of the type set forth are frequently used for processing edible or other materials requiring a high order of cleanliness. For this reason, it was previously necessary to disassemble and clean the interior of a centrifuge at the end of a shift or at the end of a workday. Disassembly is a time-consuming procedure, which the present invention seeks to avoid by providing a method of cleaning the interior of a centrifuge without any disassembly whatsoever, thereby effecting labor savings and decreasing downtime.